On the Brightside
by narutogoddess
Summary: For years Neji and Tenten have been suffering from depression. They've left their group of friends and turned to drugs and cutting to stop the pain. Music was their life, but they left it behind. Was listening to On the Brightside by NeverShoutNever when i started writing this. M for cutting, suicide attempt, depression, drug use, language, and mentions of sex. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Well…a year ago my best friend attempted suicide and a few month later two girl in my grade completed suicide. They were 14. It shook the entire school. Every day I see what my friends with depression go through and I just wanted to express through Neji and Tenten that suicide isn't the only out. Please enjoy and please take seriously. Depression is not a joke; it's not something people pretend to have for attention. It's a real illness and it's scary. I do not own Naruto. Don't forget to review!**

Preface

Lee POV

It all started late one winter's night. Around 11:30pm I got a call from my friend Shikamaru. He was telling me to turn on the news. And so I did.

_"Earlier tonight," _I heard the news reporter say, _"Ms. Elizabeth Yukimura immediately called 911 after coming into her daughter's bedroom and finding both her and her daughters boyfriend lying on the bed with both of their wrists deeply slashed. Both teens were immediately transported to the hospital and checked into the psych ward. Due to the families' requests, this is all we can share with the public at this time. Stay tuned for the weather._

So they did it…they actually attempted to kill themselves.

Chapter 1

Tenten POV

I hated school. The only good thing about it was getting to see my friends and my boyfriend. I used to like school, but then they decided to cut every music program the school had to offer. The first to go were the small clubs scattered around the school, then the rest of the clubs besides the 'important' ones like Yearbook and dance committee. Then went choir, band and orchestra, all gone within a day. We were forced to change our schedules to only 'absolutely needed' classes like math, and English. The ones nobody likes.

I was a good girl, always did my homework always paid attention in class, never smoked or did drugs or stayed out past curfew, I was the perfect daughter. Music was my number one. I always sang, always danced, and always played my piano and guitar. Then my dad left and my mother shut down. She didn't once ask how my day was anymore, or if I got all my homework done, or if my siblings weren't doing anything wrong. I was the oldest. I had to step up to the plate and get done what my mom couldn't. And I did a good job of it too. Then during my freshman year, my childhood friend Neji who I've had a crush on since we were small, finally asked me to be his girlfriend after secretly sharing kisses in the hallways and in the parking lot at school for years. Music slowly became less important.

For four years I kept my family from falling apart more then it already had. But during our sophomore year both Neji and I buckled under pressure. It was too much on a sixteen year old girl to keep her family of 5 together. And it was too much for a sixteen year old boy to live up to his families 'perfect' expectations.

Both of us started to get waves of depression. It would come and go as it pleased, starting off slow at first but growing and growing as time went on with out help. We started to look for ways out of the pain. First it was not doing our homework and ditching classes, then marijuana and other drugs. Then sex, and last was cutting, and we cut deep. Deep enough for our wounds to bleed for hours, deep enough to temporarily cease the emotional pain we were both feeling. We fell out of touch with our friends; we were too busy trying to get rid of the depression to pay attention to them. We started sitting with new people at lunch, people with the same problems as us.

We believed that none of them had it as bad as us. They all still had both of their parents. Neither Neji nor I had our fathers. His was killed and like I said earlier, mine left.

My first attempt to stop the pain forever was during our junior year. I took pills, too many to count. To me, it didn't seem as if I was trying to end my life, I just wanted to fall asleep without crying. I wanted the thoughts in my head to stop, it felt like a migraine. Every pain med in the cabinet I took at least 8 from each bottle.

I started feeling extremely woozy. I was starting to feel my life slip away from me. This pain was just as bad as the pain I felt everyday. I bent over the toilet in my bathroom and shoved my fingers down my throat. Gagging, I threw up every pill I had just forced down. I spent half the night in the bathroom, waiting for the after shocks of puking to subside. Waking up the next morning, it was like it had never happened. Nobody knew about my almost lost life, not even Neji.

It was spring the first time we were caught with marijuana. The one day we leave our weed in our lockers just had to be the day they brought the drug dogs through the school. We were suspended. My mother didn't care; she didn't even try to stop me. Neji's family was a different story. His mother was so disappointed she wouldn't even look at him. His uncle was angry. He took away everything from him, his phone, lap top, television rights, his car, his guitar, cut his curfew from eleven to five, he wasn't aloud to see me outside of school and he even put locks on Neji's windows.

It didn't take him long to figure out a way to sneak out of his room to see me. I always left my window unlocked at night for him. Being snuggled into my warm queen sized bed and then having your boyfriend crawl in next to you, is the best feeling in the world.

It was late on a Saturday night; Neji and I were to return to school on Monday. He was sitting on the love seat that sat on the other side of my room. I was cleaning out the shit from under my bed when I pulled out my acoustic guitar.

"Is that your guitar?" Neji asked me in hushed tones.

"Yeah…" I pulled it out of the case and tuned it.

"When's the last time you played?"

"Freshman year…I forgot how good it feels to hold this thing," I started to play Crazy on You by Heart, my favorite thing to play.

"I can't believe you still know how to play that," Neji said grinning at me.

"Well I've only played it a million times!"

I continued to play my favorite song, and then I got a text.

**Hey Tenten, I've been thinking about you lately, how are you?**

"Whose it from?" asked Neji.

"Lee." I said solemnly.

The grin Neji was sporting immediately turned in a straight thin line, "What does he want?"

"He just wants to know how I'm doing."

"Why does he care?"

"Probably because he was our best friend and then we decided to ditch him for new friends," I said.

I texted back, **he Lee! I'm doing okay, I miss you.**

** I heard about the suspension, you and Neji okay?**

** We're fine…He got in huge trouble with his uncle and my mom didn't do anything so…yeah.**

** So, Shikamaru's having an end of the quarter party…the whole grade is invited. Wanna come!?**

** I'd love too, but it all depends on if Neji's uncle lets him go. So we'll see.**

** Alright, see you at school Monday!**

** Bye!**

"We're gonna go to Shikamaru's party this weekend okay!?"

"Why?"

"Uh because Lee just invited us, and incase you forgot they all use to be our friends."

"Yeah…_use_ to."

"Just because we haven't been hanging out with them lately doesn't mean that their not still our friends."

"I'm gonna go now…" he said standing up.

"Why are you being like this!?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Lee texted me and you freaked out! Why?"

"Because…"

"Because why!?"

"I don't know…" he frowned to himself.

"Maybe we should reconnect with everyone…"

"Why…what did they ever do for us?"

"Neji…their our friends…we ditched them, remember!?"

"None of them understand what we're going through…" he turned to my window.

I grabbed his wrist from where I was seated on the floor, "so we'll make them understand."

He bent down next to me, kissing me, "I love you. See you tomorrow, Tenten."

"I love you too."

I closed the window behind him. Shaking my head in annoyance I climbed into bed letting sleep take me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Tenten POV

I woke up to the annoying noise of my alarm early Monday morning. _Time to get ready for my first day back at school,_ I thought as I dragged myself out of bed.

"Morning Tenten!" said my younger sister coming up the stairs.

"Morning…" I said groggily.

"Mom says you have to drive us to school today!"

"Why can't she do it?"

"She said she was really tired so she went back to sleep."

_Why can't I go back to sleep? I'm tired too! _ "Okay…I'll drive you to school."

"Good," she turned around and ran back down the stairs.

We were on our way to school when one of the twin boys asked me, "Sissy, how come you didn't go to school last week?"

"Because I got in trouble at school and they didn't want me there for a little while."

"What did you do?"

"Ummm…it was stupid, I really shouldn't have gotten in trouble."

"Then what did you?" asked the other one.

"Nothing…"

"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" the seven year olds chanted in the back seat.

"Both of you be quiet!" yelled my sister from the front seat beside me.

"Thanks," I said loud enough for just the two of us to hear.

"Yeah…whatever," she said turning her eyes back to her phone.

After dropping off the twins at their school, my sister and I made our way to the high school.

"Leah," I said with concern, "you've been nothing but rude to the twins and I all week…did something happen at school?"

"No…it's none of your business."

"Come on Leah, you know you can talk to me about anything."

"Everyone at school hates me."

"What, why do they hate you!?" I asked shocked.

"Because my sisters a druggie…"

"What are you talking about?"

"They hate me because my sister spends all her god damn time smoking pot and getting high with her stupid boyfriend she fucks every god damn night!"

I pulled the car over, "Why would you say that to me!?"

"Because it's true, my sisters a pot head and a slut and I get judge because of what you do!"

"Get out…"

"Excuse me!?"

"I said get out. Get out of the car…you're walking."

"Schools another mile away, I'm not walking!"

"Then take back what you said…"

"I'm not taking it back, it's true…all of my friends ditched me. Nobody even talks to me anymore. Ever since you and Neji ditched all of your friends, all of my friends ditched me, and now I'm all alone at school. Everybody thinks I'm exactly like you!"

I didn't even know what to say to her. We used to be so close; she used to be my best friend. I decided not to say anything; she probably just needed to blow off steam.

I restarted the car and got back on the route to school.

As soon as the car was parked, Leah swung open her door and slammed it behind her, walking as fast as she could to the main doors of the school.

As soon as the car was locked and I had my things I bolted for the girl's bathroom. With tears running down my face I leaned against the wall of the stall and locked it. I rolled up my sleeves to reveal hundreds of little scars covering my arms.

Pulling out the pocket knife I kept in my purse, I slid the blade across both my left and right arm, drawing blood.

I heard the door to the bathroom squeak as it opened. I wiped away the tears and took a deep breath.

"Tenten?" said a familiar voice, "Are you in here? Are you okay?"

I opened the stall forgetting about the fresh cuts on my arm, "hey Ino."

"Tenten!" she said giving me a hug, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…I'm…fine."

"Well obviously your not! Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing…Leah and I just got into a fight, that's it."

"Oh good, well…not good but I thought maybe Neji had broken up with you."

I reached up to wipe away an escaped tear.

"Oh my god, what happened to your arms!?"

"Oh…uh…nothing," I said quickly rolling down both of my sleeves and putting my arms behind my back.

"Tenten," she said with worry in her voice, "H-have you been cutting yourself?"

More tears came.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

I nodded.

"Then why won't you tell me? Just because we haven't been as close as we used to be doesn't mean you can't talk to me anymore."

"I know In-," I was cut off.

"When did this happen?"

"A little after my dad left…but I'm okay."

"Well obviously your not! Tenten, are you depressed?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Please stop lying to yourself. Is this why you and Neji stopped talking to everyone? Is he doing the same things?"

I decided not to answer her. I didn't want to reveal myself and I didn't want to hide it anymore either.

"Tenten…if you don't talk to me, I'm talking to the school councilor."

"No don't! I'll tell you. Just ask me anything and I'll answer you, truthfully."

"Is Neji doing the same thing?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

"How long has this been going on?"

"A while…I think the first time I cut was during freshman year."

"Well you have to stop! Promise me you'll try to stop?"

"Yeah, I'll try to stop," I lied.

"Good, now onto a happier matter…are you and Neji coming to Shikamaru's party this weekend?"

"I am, but I'm still working on Neji."

"Well, make him come…parties just haven't been the same without the two of you!"

I smiled.

"Come on, let's go to class.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Tenten POV

The late bell was in the process of ringing as I stepped into the classroom and found my seat next to Neji.

"Where were you?" he asked me.

"Talking to Ino, I'll tell you about it later."

He nodded.

"Okay class," said Kakashi Sensei, "take out your text books and read chapter 12. The next unit we'll be studying is The Great Depression."

"Great…" I whispered to myself, just what I need after a break down in the bathroom.

I pretended to read the chapter while Neji and I texted back and forth.

**Neji: Why were you late?**

** Me: Ino and I were talking in the bathroom.**

** Neji: Why?**

** Me: She saw me run in there crying and wanted to know what was wrong.**

** Neji: Why were you crying!?**

** Me: Got in a fight with Leah in the car on the way to school. She called me a slut and a druggie then said that it's my fault that all of her friends ditched her.**

** Neji: Why would it be your fault?**

** Me: She said that because of my choices, everyone thinks that she does the same things.**

** Neji: They think she smokes weed?**

** Tenten: and has sex, ditches school, doesn't do her homework…pretty much the exact same things we do.\**

** Neji: that's stupid, she's one of the people I would least expect to do any of that.**

** Me: I KNOW! It's ridiculous! **

"Okay class," said Kakashi looking up from his book, "I would assume that you have all finished the chapter by now. Now you can take out your laptops and start your two page essay on what you just read."

"Two pages!?" whined the whole class.

"Yes, two pages…if it's an issue, don't bother coming back to my class. But then I'll be forced to fail you and you'll have to stick around another year then you probably want to."

As I waited for my laptop to turn on, I sent Neji another sneaky text.

**Me: Ino knows.**

** Neji: Knows what?**

** Me: about the scars.**

** Neji: Did you tell her?!**

** Me: I had too…she saw me do it…but she said she isn't gonna tell anyone.**

** Neji: Good.**

I took out my text book again and skimmed what I should have already read, then typing as much of my paper that could during class.

The bell rang and Neji and I walked together towards Chemistry, "You know," I said, "this is the hour we would've had band."

"Yeah, it is isn't it?"

We turned the corner and Leah brushed pass us. She was walking alone, and her eyes were glued to the floor.

"Leah," I called after her, "wait!"

I turned to go after her, but she pretended that she couldn't hear me. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back so she could face me.

"What do you want?" she said solemnly still not averting her eyes from the floor.

"I'm sorry."

"No your not…if you were sorry you'd stop."

"I am too sorry, but it doesn't mean that I'm gonna stop. You're just going to have to prove that your classmates are wrong about you."

"Let me go, you're hurting my arm."

"Fine," I said letting go of my sister, "but this conversation isn't over."

She turned around and continued back to her class without saying a word.

"What did you say to her?" Neji asked me as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

"I'll tell you later…"

It was lunch and neither Neji nor I felt like going to our last three classes of the day so we ditched.

We were sitting in Neji's car, parked behind the Hyuga estate, just watching the enormous house.

"I hate this place," said Neji frowning at the mansion.

"I know you do…" I said taking his hand.

"I hope it burns."

I sighed, mostly to myself. It was shocking how much anger Neji had built up over the years towards this one house and the people in it. The only person living in the house that he seemed to care about is his cousin Hinata. She was the only Hyuga besides his mother that cared about him anymore.

"And when it burns, it takes everyone inside with it."

"Don't say that," I said, "What if Hinata was inside? You'd hate yourself even more then you already do."

I took out my pocket knife and cut Neji's name into the palm of my left hand. I hissed at the pain of the knife as it infiltrated the still whole skin. To finish my masterpiece, I added a heart to surround his name.

Wiping off the dripping blood from my hand onto my black skinny jeans, I handed Neji the knife.

He took it from my still bleeding hand and pushed up the sleeve of his black leather jacket. Putting the knife to his left arm, he dragged the sharp edge from the top of his bicep to his elbow.

We sat there in silence for a few moments to return our stares to the house.

I watched the blood pool in my opened hand.

Neji reached over me to the glove compartment and pulled out a roll of gauze, "Here," he handing me the roll.

"Thanks," I said as I wrapped my hand.

Sitting in front of Neji's least favorite place in the world wasn't good for either of us so we started the car and drove two houses down to where Neji and his mother lived.

Neji locked the front door and we headed up to his bedroom.

He closed the door behind him and pulled me into him, capturing my lips, "I love you," he said when he pulled away.

"I love you too," I kissed him again and latched my arms around his neck.

He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Deepening the kiss he carried me over to the bed and climbed over me.

We tore each others cloths off until we were left with nothing. Pushing himself into me, I yelped in pleasure. Starting out slow we rocked on each others hips slowly gaining speed and creating more and more friction between the two us. I moaned out his name as we came together.

We came down from our high and tangled our arms together. Not wanting to ever let him go, I kissed him and said, "I love you more then anything. Don't ever forget that."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Neji POV

When I was four years old, my father was killed inside the Hyuga Manor. I watched it happen and I can still remember every little detail of it. He died trying to protect me and my mother. Some details are a little fuzzy, but I remember the three of us being asleep in my father's childhood bedroom. He told me it was same as it was when he was a teenager; my grandparents hadn't changed a thing about it.

My parents had only been married a few short months. We were waiting for the few finishing touches on our new house to be over with. I remember my mother telling me earlier that day that I was going to be having a little brother or sister.

I can still hear the creak of the stairs as the infiltrator came up the stairs to the bedroom the three of us shared. The sound rings through my ears at night, every time I close my eyes I hear the door swing open and hit the wall waking up my mother and father.

My mother protectively wrapped her arms around me as my father got out of bed to fend off the trespasser.

My mother reached for the phone to call 911 but was halted when the man pulled out a gun.

Looking back on the incident, I've come to realize that the man had been crazy. He was confused and he was scared. He told my father to open the safe in the corner of the room and hand him all the valuables sealed inside. When my father refused, the man raised his voice and pointed the gun at both my mother and I, "Open it or your family dies," he said.

This scared my father. His biggest fear was losing his family. He took his time opening the safe, but this made the man grow impatient. He shouted at my father to hurry up.

My father had the money in his hands but he hesitated to hand it over. I now realize that the money he was holding was the money that he and my mother had been saving for when I would need it in the future. He didn't want me to not have all the options.

My father silently slid the money back into the safe and locked it back up. He stood up and turned to face the man standing in the middle of the room with the gun in his hand.

"What are you doing!?" the man yelled, "I told you to give me the money!"

"I can't do that," my father said to him, "You see, the money is for my son. I would hate for you to be the one who has taken away opportunities from him."

"Open it!" he yelled again, "I don't care about your kid! I need the money for mine!"

"I'm sorry, but I just can't do that for you."

Before I could blink, the gun had been fired. My mother screamed and the shooter ran. I sat in the bed confused and scared as my mother bent over my father's body. My aunt and uncle had now entered the room. My aunt screamed in terror and my uncle picked me up out of the bed to bring me away from the crime scene. He set me in the spare bed in the room that his daughter slept in and tucked me in, telling me that everything was going to be okay and to sleep.

I couldn't sleep of course; I remember over hearing the police carry my fathers body out of the house and into the medical examiners car.

The moment I heard the door close behind the last of the police is when my mother screamed again, "you're having a miscarriage," said my aunt, "You're in shock."

Since that day I was never an ordinary kid. I was quiet and only spoke when spoken to. Then when I got to kindergarten, I met Tenten. She and Lee became my best friends. We did everything together. They were the only people I ever told about my father's murder and they were the only people I was ever going to tell. It hurt so badly, but I had to keep strong for my mother and my friends. It was then when we were twelve, Tenten's father left.

Tenten loved her father more than anything. Every time we were asked to do a project for school on the person we looked up to the most, she chose him. They talked about everything, they shared the same interests and oddly enough, the same birthday. I had never seen someone hurt that bad in such a short period of time.

When we were fourteen, Tenten accidently let it slip out that she liked me. She was so embarrassed she didn't talk to me for days. And when I told her I liked her back, she was so happy she wouldn't shut up. We had our first kiss that day. It was after school under the cherry blossom tree that we sat under everyday while we waited for our mothers to pick us up.

It was late September our freshman year when I finally asked her to be my girlfriend. She said yes of course.

And that whole year, everything had been going great, we were together and we had our group of friends. I couldn't have asked for anything more. But one day the two of us just became so stressed out that neither of us ever wanted to do anything anymore. We sat alone in our rooms daily and sulked, we stopped talking to Lee and our other friends, and we got new friends. Friends that were feeling the same things as us, friends that cut themselves and intoxicated themselves with drugs and alcohol, they told us that if we did those things, the pain would go away. At that point we were willing to try anything. We smoked enough weed to not feel anything for days, we drank before bed every night hoping to pass out from intoxication. Our arms and legs became cutting boards, and we spent our time between classes fucking in the bathroom. Nothing was ever the same. But it worked, it stopped the pain. Not permanently but just temporarily was enough. It kept us from going insane.

Our families didn't even realize that our rebel was an unexpressed cry for help.

Lee tried talking to us, but eventually we cut all ties with him, we just didn't care.

Eventually I quit playing soccer and Tenten quit dance Team. We both stashed away our guitars under our beds. Tenten covered her piano and I covered my drums. She stopped singing, and I stopped writing music. It was as if we were an empty shell and the only thing we had was each other.

The first time we made love was when I cut her name into my right hand. I told her I would be with her forever and never leave her. We were in love and there wasn't anything anyone could do to pull us apart. She was my shoulder to cry on and I was hers. We were two halves of a whole. But how could we be a whole if neither one of us had even half of what we should have?


	5. Chapter 5

Tenten POV

Neji and I were back at school before the final bell to pick up my sister. After stepping out of Neji's car and closing the door, he leaned against it and pulled me into him, "I love you," he said kissing my cheek.

I giggled, "I love you too."

We waited in silence until Leah came out of the building. Her head was down and she was walking really slowly.

"Leah, what's wrong?" I asked when Leah got to where we were waiting.

"Where's your car?" Leah said.

"Same place we left it this morning. Now tell me what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you in the car."

I sighed and turned toward my boyfriend, "See you tonight?"

"Yeah, just text me."

"Okay," I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist, "Love you," I kissed him quickly and turned to leave with my sister.

As soon as the doors of the car were closed, Leah said, "You ditched again, didn't you."

"Yeah, we did. Now tell me what's bothering you."

"I don't want to…you wouldn't understand."

"Leah…I'm sure I'll understand. Now tell me what's up."

"Well…there's two people…and I kind of like these two people. And today one of them called me a slut."

"Why did he call you a slut?"

"Not he…she," my sister corrected me.

"Wait…did you just say 'she'?"

"Yeah…I haven't ever told anybody this but, I like girls too."

I smiled, "I'm glad you told me Leah."

"You're not mad!?" she asked looking at me with wide eyes.

"Why would I be mad?"

"I dunno…I didn't know if you were against people like me…"

"Well I'm not, so you don't need to be scared anymore, okay?"

"Alright…anyways, she called me a slut at lunch today and when I confronted her, she said I was just like you and that I should go kill myself…"

"She said that to you!?"

"Yeah…"

"Do _not_ listen to her. She doesn't know that what she's saying can really affect someone. Who is this girl anyways?" I said starting the car.

"Her name is Yui Uzumaki."

"Wait, Karin's sister!?"

"Yeah…"

"So she's one of the popular kids then."

"Mmhmm…she's also Naruto's cousin, did you know that?"

"Yeah, I did." I pulled into the drive way of the elementary school and turned off the car to wait for the twins, "So who's the other person you like? Is it a girl or boy?"

"It's a boy…you don't know who he is though. He's from Russia."

"I might know who he is, there's a girl in my History class from Russia. Maybe she's his sister."

"He does have a sister, but I don't know if she's older or younger."

The back door to the car opened and the twins climbed into their seats. "Hi sissy's!" they said together.

"Hey boys, how was school?" I asked them.

"Good! I kissed my girlfriend's hand today and recess," said one of them.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend, is she cute?" I asked.

"Yes!" they said together.

Leah and I laughed and I started the car again and headed for home.

I was sitting in my room trying to catch up on some of my homework so I would be able to go on our class trip at the end of the year when I heard a knock at the door, "Come in," I said.

"Hey," said Leah stepping into my room, "Yui just called me and apologized."

"She did!? That's great!"

"Yeah," she sat down on my bed next to me and said, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, of course you can," I pushed my homework to the side and turned off my music so I could listen to her.

"I know this is probably a little personal for you but, I really gotta know if what everyone says about you is true."

"Like what?"

"Is it true that you're not a virgin?"

"Yes," I answered honestly.

"How many people have you slept with?"

"Just Neji."

"Good, then you're not a whore!"

I laughed, "Told you."

"Sorry I called you a slut and a druggie this morning…I was just upset."

"I know," I said hugging her.

"I have another question for you."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Have you done anything else besides weed?"

"Yeah…"

"What?"

"Ecstasy mostly. And I've done heroine once, but I'm never doing it again."

"Good…I don't want to lose my sister."

"I know sweetie, and you're not going to." I may have sounded convincing to her, but I wasn't all that convinced of myself.

The week went on as normal but on Friday during lunch, Neji and I were sitting with our 'friends' when Hinata came over with Naruto and shyly asked if she could talk to both of us.

"What's up Hinata?" I asked, "What did you want to talk to us about?"

"W-we were just wondering if y-you two were planning on coming to Shikamaru's party tomorrow night."

"I don't know yet," I said, "I really want to go but Neji isn't sure."

"Come on man," said Naruto, "We all miss you guys at parties; it just isn't the same without you guys. You should come."

"Temari will be there," added Hinata.

"Seriously!? I haven't seen her in so long!" I said excitedly.

"I know," said Hinata, "me either!"

"Okay now we have to go," I smiled up at Neji with pleading eyes.

"Fine…we'll go."

"Yay!" I said giving my boyfriend a hug.

"Sweet, we'll go tell Shikamaru," said Naruto.

It was Saturday night and I was in my room getting ready for Shikamaru's party. I pulled out a few pairs of skinny jeans and tops and laid them out on by bed.

"What should I wear?" I asked Neji.

"I honestly don't care, you look beautiful in everything."

"Flattering will get you no where! Now tell me what to wear!"

"But, it doesn't matter to me."

"Ugh! You're so difficult," I turned to my door and opened it a crack and called out, "Hey Leah! Can you come here for a second?"

I closed the door back up and went back to analyzing my cloths.

There was a knock at the door, "Come in!"

"What do need?" asked Leah coming into my room.

"I don't know what to wear, I need your help."

"Okay," she walked over to my bed and closely looked at everything I had laid out, "This with…that!" she said pointing to my black skinny jeans and black flash dance shirt with a silver star on the chest.

"As long as you wear your leather jacket over the top," said Neji.

I looked at him questioningly. He's never had a problem with the way I've dressed before.

"I just don't want anybody else looking at you the way I do."

"Awweee, I love you! Now," I said turning to my box of jewelry, "What bellybutton ring should I wear?"

"The one with the stars!" said Leah, "Then it'll match your shirt!"

I smiled, "okay! Now get out so I can change!"

"B-but Neji's in here!"

"So? He's my boyfriend!"

"And I'm your sister!"

"Just get out," I said giving her a look.

"Finnnneee."

I closed the door behind my sister and threw my bathrobe into the corner, "Don't look!" I said to Neji right before I took off my bra.

"Why? I see you naked all the time!"

I frowned at him.

"Fine…" he said turning around.

I pulled out my almost see through lacey bra and clipped it on, then after sliding on my even lacier panties, I quickly through on my cloths, "I'm done, you can look now."

"Hot!"

I smiled, "You know it!"

It was time for us to leave for the party, so I grabbed my leather jacket from where it was draped over the chair in the dining room and through Neji his car keys.

The party was great. I got to spend some time with our old friends and Temari when she wasn't busy making out with Shikamaru. It was a pretty stereotypical high school party; drinking, make out sessions, loud music, spin the bottle, your average teenage affairs.

It was just shy of 11pm when Ino grabbed an empty beer bottle and said, "Let's play a game of spin the bottle! It'll be just like old times!"

"When have we ever played spin the bottle, Ino Pig?" asked Sakura a little confused.

"Well…never, but it'll be fun."

The whole group gathered together along with a few others from our class and we all sat in a circle in the middle of Shikamaru's basement where we could play in private away from the party.

"Who wants to go first?" asked Ino.

Nobody raised their hand, "Fine, I'll just start it."

She spun the bottle and it landed on Shikamaru.

Naruto burst out laughing, "HA! Now you two have to kiss!"

"Such a drag…" complained Shikamaru and he leaned across the circle and kissed Ino full on the lips.

Ino scrunched up her face in disgust, "gross. I hope I never have to kiss my best friend again!"

"Yeah, well I feel the same way about you, Ino."

She stuck her tongue out at Shikamaru and we all laughed.

Shikamaru was the next one to spin the bottle. Of course it landed on Temari who was seated next to him and they eased themselves into yet another make out session.

We all sat there awkwardly as we waited for the couple to finish swapping saliva.

Sasuke cleared his throat and looked right at the couple, "Guys, stop tonguing so the rest of us can have some fun too."

The couple pulled apart with a string of spit still stuck to their mouths.

Temari spun the bottle and everyone gasped when it landed on me. I stared at the bottle in front of me, hoping for it to move to whoever was to my right.

"Come on Temari!" shouted Naruto, "Kiss her!"

"N-naruto…" said Hinata shyly.

"What?" he said shrugging his shoulders at his girlfriend, "it's hot when two girls make out."

All of the guys except Neji and Lee nodded in agreement with Naruto's statement.

"Come on Tenten," said Shikmaru, "you've gotta kiss her or your out."

"If any of you film this or take pictures, I will literally kill you," I said leaning across the circle and crushing my lips into Temari's.

"YEAH," Naruto said loudly, "That's what I'm talkin about!"

"Naruto…" whispered Hinata, "I think that's enough."

I pulled away from Temari and gave Naruto the 'look'.

"Heh…heh…sorry Tenten," he said scared.

I leaned myself back up against Neji, feeling a little embarrassed. Neji tilted my chin up so we could look into each others eyes, then he kissed me sweetly.

"Hey! That's cheating!" said Ino from across the circle, "No kissing unless the bottle lands on you!"

"Fine," I said grabbing onto the bottle and tilting it a few inches to the left so it was pointing at Neji.

I smiled and slid my tongue into my boyfriend's mouth.

"CHEATERS," yelled the whole circle.

I laughed into the kiss and started to pull away, but he pulled my right back in.

"Uh guys?" said a few voices from the circle, "you can stop now."

But we didn't listen, we just kept kissing.

Eventually we pulled apart for air, but Neji took my hand, stood me up and lead me upstairs to one of the many guest bedrooms in Shikamaru's giant house.

Neji closed the door and locked it behind us, then went right back to kissing me. He slid my jacket off of my shoulders and I did the same to his. His hands crept there way up my belly shirt and found there way to the wire of my bra.

"Lace?" he questioned, "is this why you made me turn around while you got dressed?"

I nodded, not able to form words with the increasing feeling of lust.

Our remaining cloths were removed and discarded to the forgotten corners of the room.

He laid me down in the king sized bed and kissed me with nothing but love. It was moments like this that made me happy to be alive, but this feeling could never last forever.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Neji POV

Tenten and I spent a few minute in each others arms just enjoying each others company, "I love you," I said poking her cheek.

She smiled and turned to her side, burying her face in the crook of my neck, "I love you too."

The happiest moments of my life were always when it was just Tenten and I.

"What time is it?" she asked yawning.

"Almost midnight, did you want to go home?"

"No, I just didn't want to be gone too long from the party," she answered while rolling out of bed and putting her cloths back on.

I hopped out of bed and did the same.

She hissed as she pulled on her jacket.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…my jacket just rubbed against one of the cuts on my arm."

"Let me see."

She slid of her jacket and held out her right arm to me. I ran my thumb gently over the cut.

"Owie," she frowned.

I grinned at her childish response, "sorry Tenten."

"Let's get back to the party, Neji."

"There you guys are!" yelled Naruto as we came down the stairs, "What could you have possibly be doing up there that took you so damn long!?"

"Are you really that much of an idiot that you have to ask…?" said Sasuke.

"No! I know what they were doing; I just wanted them to admit it!"

"Naruto…shut up…" said Sakura.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I looked at it; 7 missed calls from mom and 14 from my uncle…great.

It was almost 2am when Tenten and I left the party.

"Are you taking me home or am I sleeping at your house?" she asked.

"I'm taking you home," I said turning onto her street, "I'm still grounded for getting busted and I have a bunch of missed calls from my mom and uncle."

"So you'll be getting in more trouble."

"Yup."

I pulled into her drive way and gave her a goodbye kiss.

"See you tomorrow? I mean later today."

"Maybe, all depends of how mad my mom and uncle are, so Monday at the latest."

"Okay, Love you," she said getting out of the car.

"Love you too."

As I was driving home, I checked my phone for anymore missed calls. Now there were 11 from my mom and 19 from my uncle.

I pulled into the driveway and closed the garage door. I unlocked the door that went from the garage to the kitchen and stepped inside.

I closed the door as quietly as possible and the light snapped on.

"Where have you been?" asked my mother in her angry mom voice.

"I was at Shikamaru's party," I said calmly.

"For seven hours!?"

"Yeah."

"Neji, I was worried sick about you. Did you by chance check your phone at all during the night? You could have called to check in."

"I was busy."

"Partying? Neji you're 17 years old, you need to start being responsible."

"I am responsible."

She gave me the 'mom look' and said, "With what? Because the way you've been acting lately has really clouded my judgment."

I was silent.

"Neji...I don't know what to do with you anymore."

Just then the phone rang so she made her way across the kitchen to answer it. I turned to make my escape to my room, "Don't move."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to her and leaned against the kitchen island.

"Hello?" she said into the phone, "Yes, he's home…Okay, bye."

She hung up and turned back towards me, "Your uncles on his way over."

I sat down on the stool to wait for my uncle to get here and punish me. I pulled out my phone.

"Give it to me," said my mom holding out her hand.

I groaned and handed it over.

"And your car keys."

"What!? No!"

"Give them to me," she said sternly.

"No!"

"Driving is a privilege, so hand over your keys."

"What's going on?" asked my uncle when he walked through the door.

"She's trying to take my car keys!" I said.

"Give them to her," He said, "Now."

"But…"

"Now!" he said.

I handed my mother my car keys and glared at my uncle.

"Where were you?" he asked me calmly.

"Shikamaru's party," I answered.

"And was there alcohol at this party?"

"Yes."

"Were you drinking?"

"No."

"Why didn't you answer your phone? Your mother and I both called you multiple times."

"I saw."

"And you didn't once think to maybe call us back?"

"I was busy."

"Yume," he said looking at my mom, "you can go to bed now, I'll handle your son."

She nodded and headed up to her room. As soon as we heard her bedroom door close, he went off.

"You were busy! What could you have possibly be doing that was more important then quickly texting your mother or I back to let us know where you were? Your mother was so worried about you that she almost called the police."

"Well I'm okay, so I really don't see what the problem is."

"What did you do at this party? I want to know every detail."

"We didn't do anything bad."

"Well the way you've been acting lately has given me reason to not believe you."

"What? Like getting caught with weed?"

"Yes. Marijuana is an illegal drug and now I find out that my nephew has been smoking it daily. You were suspended from school. Do you have any idea how bad that is for the family name!?"

"The family name!?" I questioned, "That's seriously your biggest concern!?"

"Neji, you're part of one of the most powerful families in all of Japan. You need to grow up, because one day you will be head of the company."

I turned for the stairs. I was so aggravated I probably couldn't have a civilized conversation with him.

"Neji, get back here right now! We are not done with this conversation."

"Yes we are!" I yelled down the stairs to my uncle, and then slammed my bedroom door.

I locked the door behind me and slid down the frame to the floor. I bit my tongue, drawing blood to keep myself from screaming.

It was always about the family reputation with him. He hated me for never doing exactly what he wanted me to, and I hated him. He never even tried to get me help, he was there the day my father was killed, but he could never understand how I feel. I watch my father die; and it haunts me every single night.

I picked up the family picture I had on my dresser and threw it at the wall, watching it shatter. Then turning to the wall, I sent my fist threw the mirror, and yelled out in frustration.

"Neji, are you okay?" said my mother threw the door, "let me in."

"No!" I yelled back.

I slammed the door to my bathroom and took out my pocket knife. I held it to my throat. I took a deep breathe to calm myself and pulled the knife away from my neck to my arm and slicing it.

"God damn it…" I sighed and reached for the door knob and hoisted myself up. I opened the door and walked into by bedroom. I pulled on sweat pants and climbed into bed.

I woke up the next morning to mom knocking on my door, "Neji, can I come in?"

I whined and rolled over in my bed, pulling the covers over my head.

My mom opened the door and sat down on my bed, next to me, "Let's talk about Tenten," she said.

I opened my eyes, sat up in bed and turned to face her, "Why?"

"Because I'm concerned about the both of you."

"What are you worried about?"

"Well, the both of you are seventeen now and you've been together for a while now and I know your hormones are probably acting a little crazy and-"

"Mom, no," I said covering my ears, "I don't want to hear this again."

She smiled sweetly and said, "I know you don't, I just want to make sure that both of you are using protection."

"Mom, she's on birth control."

"I know, I'm the one who took her to get it, I just wanted to make sure she was using it."

"She's using it," I reassured her.

"Good, now can you tell me what happened between you and your uncle last night?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay Neji. But if you ever want to talk, you can talk to me."

I nodded and she turned to leave.

It was around 6:30 and I was flipping through channels when my mom yelled from the kitchen, "Neji, Hinata's texting you!"

"Am I aloud to answer her?" I asked walking into the kitchen.

"Yes, of course. She's your cousin."

She handed me my iPhone and I typed in the password and opened my text.

**Can I come over? I need help with my biology homework.**

** Yeah, sure.**

"Hinata needs help with her homework so she's coming over."

"Okay."

I went back to the living room and continued flipping through channels when the doorbell rang.

"Hey," I said opening the door for Hinata.

"Hi," she responded walking through the door.

"So what do you need help with?" I asked.

"Uh…I actually don't need any help; I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh, what about?"

"C-can we go upstairs?"

"Yeah, sure."

She followed me up the stairs and into my room. I closed the door behind us. She was staring at the broken glass that was scattered across the floor.

"Neji?" she said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Ino told me something i-interesting today."

"What did she tell you?"

"She told me that last week she followed Tenten into the bathroom when she was crying and when she asked Tenten what was wrong, she wouldn't tell her and she had cuts all over her arms."

I looked at the floor.

"Neji, is Tenten cutting herself?"

I didn't answer her. I just stared at the broken picture frame scattered across my room.

"Neji, please tell me the truth, I'm not going to tell anybody."

"She is…"

"A-are you doing it too?" she choked.

I nodded.

"C-can I see?"

I shook my head.

"Neji, please show me…please take of your sweatshirt."

She looked like she was going to cry. So I did what I was asked. I slid off my sweatshirt and set it on my bed.

She walked over to me and grabbed my wrist. With her pleading eyes I held out my left arm to her and showed her the cuts that covered my skin.

She stared at my arm and a tear slipped out.

"Hinata," I said, "please don't cry."

"How can I not? Two of my best friends are hurting themselves, and I don't know what to do or how I can help them."

"You don't need to do anything," I told her, "This isn't your problem, its mine and Tenten's."

"B-but…something must be driving you to do this…what is it?"

"Its nothing…you wouldn't understand."

"Neji talk to me…please."

"I can't."

More tears escaped her eyes.

"I'm sorry Hinata, if I knew I'd tell you but…I just don't know."

"I-I understand…" she said wiping her eyes, "I just hate seeing physical proof that two people that I love are suffering so much."

"Everything's going to be okay," I assured her. But I wasn't so sure what I was telling her was the total truth.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Neji POV

When Hinata stopped crying she said, "Neji, you have to tell your mom."

My eyes went wide, "What!? No!" I couldn't tell her this; it would hurt her too bad.

"Neji, please."

"No, I can't. And you promised you wouldn't either."

"And I won't…but I just think that you should."

"I'm not ready."

"When will you be?"

I shrugged.

"D-do you think you're like this because of what happened to your dad?" she asked looking at her shoes.

"If I knew, I'd tell you."

We sat together awkwardly in silence until her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered, "Hi, Naruto…yeah, I'll be back in a few minutes…okay, I love you too, bye," she put here phone back in her purse, "I'm sorry Neji, but I have to go, Naruto's waiting for me."

"Okay," I walked her out and went back to scrolling through channels, but I couldn't focus…too many people were finding out.

I shut off the TV and grabbed my phone from the counter and made my way towards the back door.

"Um, where are you going?" ask my mother looking up from her paperwork

"Out," I responded.

"No you're not, your grounded. Put your phone back."

I didn't listen. I slammed the back door behind me and started walking towards Tenten's house.

It was a pretty far walk, but I didn't care. I needed time to calm down before seeing her.

I sent her a quick text: **I'm coming over.**

** Window's open :),** she texted back.

I stuck my hands in the pockets of my sweatshirt. I took a deep breathe to try and calm myself down. I looked up from staring at the ground, it was the almost May and the snow was finally starting to melt.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I didn't even bother looking at it to see who was calling me. It was probably just my mom or uncle anyways; I didn't feel like talking to either of them at the moment.

I passed the cemetery and stopped at the gate. My father was buried here.

One time I brought Tenten here, we were younger, fifth grade maybe?

_It was after school and it was raining. We were trying to get home without getting soaked. We ran a few blocks and stopped at the gates of the cemetery to catch our breaths._

"_Neji," she said still trying to gin control over her breathing, "let's go in."_

_I shook my head, "No, I don't want to."_

"_Why not, isn't your father buried here? Let's go visit him!"_

_She grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the gates, "Tenten, stop pulling me, I don't wanna go!"_

"_But we're here anyways, and you told me you haven't been here since you were little, so let's just go."_

_I knew I wouldn't win the fight so I kept my mouth shut after that._

"_Do you remember where he is?" she asked finally letting go of my arm/_

_I nodded._

"_Well show me where! We don't have all day, and it's still raining!"_

_ I sighed and started off in the direction of the lot reserved for the Hyuga family._

_ "Which one is it?" she asked when we got to the Hyuga section._

_ I walked more into the lot and stood in front of the grave marker that belonged to my father._

**Hizashi Hyuga**

**January 8, 1974- July 8, 2006**

**Beloved Husband, Father, Brother, Son and Uncle**

**He will be missed**

**R.I.P**

_ Tenten kneeled down in front of the marker and put her hands together, paying her respects. _

_ When she was finished she stood up._

_ I didn't realize I was staring and the grave until she squeezed my hand._

_ I looked down at my hand in hers and then back up to meet her eyes. She was smiling, but her eyes were sad._

_ "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked._

_ I shook my head, "no."_

_ She sat down on the ground and crossed her legs, pulling me with her._

_ I hugged my knees to my chest._

_ "Tell me about him," said Tenten._

_ "There's not much to tell…he died when I was four."_

_ "You don't have any stories?"_

_ "None that I remember," I must have looked sad because she rested her head on my shoulder and put her hand over mine._

_ We like that in silence for quite a while, and then she lifted her head from my shoulder and took her hand away from mine and sat straight up._

_ "Hello Mister Hyuga," she started, "My name is Tenten, as you've probably figured out by know, I'm Neji's friend. I'm sorry I never got to meet you. I'm sure you were a great man. I can tell that Neji loves you and I know that his mom loves you too. They really miss you. Is Neji's little brother or sister up there with you? You don't have to worry about Neji; I'll watch over him for you, I'll make sure he doesn't get into trouble."_

_ "Thanks," I said._

_ "Of course, what are friends for?"_

I smiled at the memory and continued on the path towards Tenten's.

**Authors Note: Sorry it was short :P**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Neji POV

When I got to Tenten's, I climbed up the side of the house as I usually did and slid open her window.

"What took you so long?" she asked me from her bed.

"I walked."

"Where's your car?"

"At home, I'm still grounded."

"I'm guessing you left without telling anyone?"

"No, my mom knows. She tried to stop me from leaving though," I said sitting on the bed next to her and taking her hand.

"So what did you do today?"

"Hinata texted me and said she needed help with homework, but when she came over she didn't actually need help."

"Then why did she say she did?"

"It was an excuse."

"For what?"

"Ino told her everything."

"What!? Tell me exactly what Hinata said."

I told Tenten everything that Hinata and I talked about.

"Oh god," she said putting her head between her knees, "she's going to tell Naruto and then he's going to tell the whole world and then there going to send us to the nut house!"

"Tenten, you're jumping to conclusions…and Hinata's not going to tell Naruto, if she was going to tell anyone it'd be my mom or her dad, but she isn't going to tell anyone."

"How do you know?"

"She promised me, and you know as much as I do that Hinata doesn't break promises."

"Neji, too many people are finding out. This isn't good."

"I know it isn't good, we'll just have to deny it until people forget about it."

"But Hinata and Ino know for sure."

"Yeah, they do. We'll just have to deal with it."

From Tenten's bedroom we could hear her little brothers fighting over one of their toys.

"So what have you been doing all day?" I asked her.

"Hiding from my mother, she's been drinking all day."

Just then, we heard a loud crash coming from downstairs.

"Ugh! Not again," she said getting up from her bed and moving towards her door.

I followed her downstairs to find Leah trying to clean up a glass vase in the living room.

"Where is she?" Tenten asked her sister.

"I don't know, she threw this at me and then ran out the back door."

"Did you get into a fight?"

"Yeah…she was reading through my texts and got mad."

"So she threw a vase at you?" I asked.

"Yeah…she does stupid stuff when she's drunk," said Leah.

"What texts?" asked Tenten.

"The ones between me and Karin's sister…Tenten, she knows…"

Tenten knelt down next to Leah and gave her hug, "It'll be okay, I'll find her and bring her back, can you watch the twins Leah?"

"Yeah."

"Neji, come with me," Tenten said grabbing her sweatshirt from the coat rack.

We went out the back and got in Tenten's car. As we pulled out of the driveway I said, "Leah's bi, isn't she."

"Yeah, how'd you know?" she responded.

"I saw the way she looked at Hinata, Ino, and Sakura every time she saw them, it was kind of obvious, and what she just said confirmed it."

We drove around for an hour trying to locate her mother, "Ugh! Where is she!?" said Tenten is frustration, "She couldn't have gotten this far away from the house!"

"Maybe she's already home, let's go back and check," I said.

"Leah would've called me."

"Let's go back anyways; if she isn't there we'll call the police."

"Okay," she turned the car and we headed back towards to house.

Tenten POV

I pulled into my driveway and we got out of the car.

"Did you find her?" asked Leah when we came in.

"No, she didn't come back yet?"

Leah shook her head.

"Did she leave her cell here?"

"I don't know, probably not, are you going to call her?"

"Yeah," I dialed her number but got the machine, "Mom, where are you?" I said into the phone, "Call me."

"No answer?" asked Neji.

I shook my head.

"What are you gonna do?" asked Leah.

"I'm calling 911," I said typing in the number.

"911 emergencies," I heard from the other line, "what is your emergency?"

I explained our situation to the operator and gave her our information.

"Okay, I'll send someone over to your house right away ma'am."

"Alright thank you," I said and hung up.

"What are they gonna do?" asked Leah.

"They're sending over a police officer."

"Better hide your weed sis…"

When an officer arrived at our house, Leah and I explained to him what happened while Neji entertained the twins in the other room.

"You said you already spent some time looking for your mom?" he said.

"Yeah, my boyfriend and I drove around for an hour."

"Okay, well I'm going to call in other officer to help look. Do you have a recent picture of your mom we can go off of?"

"Yes," said Leah standing up from the chair she was sitting in to get a picture for the cop.

"Thank you," he said as he was handed the picture, "I want you kids to stay here while we look for her. If we find her we'll call you, and if she comes back or if you hear anything, give me a call.

He handed me a business card with his information on it.

"Thank you," I said and Leah walked him to the door.

When he was gone and sat down next to Neji in the living room and sighed. He was currently playing with a fire truck while the twins each had a bulldozer.

He put his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.

"Ew!" said the twins, "gross!"

I stuck my tongue out them.

"Is mommy going to be okay?" asked the younger of the two.

"She's going to be fine," I said, "now it's getting late, so go brush you teeth. I'll be up in a little bit to tuck you in."

"But we don't wanna go to bed yet!" they wined

"I don't care, you have school tomorrow."

"Fine…" they said making there way up the stairs.

When the twins were gone, Neji and I moved from the floor to the couch. I leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around me protectively.

"Neji," I said, "I don't know what to do anymore…I try so hard keep them safe but, she keeps disappearing."

I let a tear escape, but he kissed it away.

"Will you stay here tonight?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I can get my school stuff in the morning."

"Sissy, we're ready!" yelled the twin from upstairs.

I got up off the couch and went upstairs to tuck them in.

Neji POV

While Tenten was tucking in her brothers I decided it would probably be a good idea to call my mom to let her know I'm not coming home tonight.

I knew there would be yelling as soon as she answered, so I braced myself.

"Neji, you better be coming home now!" yelled my mother, "You're grounded, that means no leaving the house!"

"Mom…I know…but I'm not coming home."

"And why not, are you busy again?"

"No…but I can't come home," I explained to her what happened with Tenten's mom.

She said, "Oh…well you can stay over there tonight. If Tenten needs anything tell her she can call me. And don't worry about your uncle; I'll explain to him what happened."

"Okay, thanks," I hung up.

Tenten came back into the living room and sat down, "was that your mom?"

"Yeah, she knows I'm here."

She sighed and handed me a joint.

"Neji," she said lighting hers and then mine.

"Hm?" I said inhaling.

"I don't wanna live anymore."

I was surprised by her words, but I was more shocked by my response, "neither do I."


	9. Chapter 9

Tenten POV

I woke up in the middle of the night on top of Neji. We were naked and I had a pounding headache.

I groaned and rolled off of him. My bedroom light was on and there were two empty bottles of whisky on the floor. One of which Neji and I had drank and the other we mostly drank but the rest of it was spilled on the hardwood floor. _That'll be fun to clean up later. _

The bong on my desk was still going, so I threw on Neji's shirt and walked over to turn it off.

Neji groaned from my bed and sat up, "What time is it?" he asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

I grabbed my phone, "3:23."

"Did the police call?"

I checked my messages; there was one from the station.

_Hi Tenten, this is Chief Uchiha. We have your mother; we're keeping her overnight at the station. You'll be able to pick her up tomorrow afternoon. Have a good night._

"They found her," I said to Neji.

"Good."

"I think I'm going to keep Leah and the twin's home from school tomorrow…I mean today," I said climbing back into bed.

"That's probably a good idea."

"Ugh! My head," I sandwiched my head between a pillow and said sarcastically; "I'm going to be a lovely ray of sunshine when I wake up again."

"We both are," he said brushing my bangs away from my eyes and pulling me closer, "from the looks of it, you're already hung over."

"You will be too! You're still a little tipsy though."

"No I'm not," he said wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Whatever you say."

I woke up around seven to call the school and turn off everybody's alarms.

The principal, who already hated me, wasn't very happy about me missing school but, he understood our situation and let Leah and I stay home.

Neji was just planning on ditching but he got a text from his mom saying that she already called the school and told them that he wasn't going to be there.

It was around eight when the twins woke up and ran downstairs screaming about how they were late for school.

"Calm down," I said from the kitchen, "I already called the school, your staying home today."

"YAY!" they cheered.

"What's with all the noise?" asked Leah who was coming down the stairs half asleep, "are we staying home today?"

"Yes," I replied.

Leah was always a better cook then I was, so while she was making breakfast I called the police station to ask them what time I could come by and pick up my mother.

I dialed Sasuke's dad's number; since he was the chief of police.

"This is Fugaku Uchiha, how can I help you?"

"Hi Mr. Uchiha, this is Tenten."

"Hello Tenten, what can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering what time I could come by the station and pick up my mother."

"Whenever it's convenient for you to come and get her. I'll be at the station until 4:30 tonight; I'd like to talk to you about what'll happen to her if this reoccurs. We've already informed your mom about the consequences if this happens again."

"Alright, thank you Mr. Uchiha, I'll see you later."

I ended the call and let out a frustrated sigh. My head was pounding again.

"Your hung-over, aren't you," said Leah from the stove.

"Little bit," I responded.

"I can't believe you Tenten! Mom just got picked up by the police last night for being drunk and then you get drunk! I don't understand how you think this is alright," she fumed, "I don't want what happens to our mom to happen to you too!"

"Can you please be quiet," I snarled, "Neji and the twins are in the other room and I have a pounding head ach."

"And whose fault is that!?"

"Leah stop, we've already had this conversation. I'm not going to stop."

"Tenten, you're the oldest…you're supposed to be setting a good example."

"Your not my mom!" I said, "You can't tell me what to do!"

At that, Leah turned off the stove and stomped up the stairs.

"Bigger sissy, stop fighting with littler sissy!" said the twins running into the kitchen followed by Neji.

"Sorry boys," I said, "why don't you go watch TV while I finish making breakfast?"

"Okay!" they agreed running into the living room.

"I hate fighting with her," I said to Neji as he handed me a glass of water and an Advil for my hang-over.

"I know," he said kissing my forehead, "she kind of has a point though."

"What do you mean? Why are you taking her side?"

"I'm not taking her side, I'm just saying that I know you hate seeing your mom like that, and Leah has to see both her and you like that. Look at it from her perspective."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense…"

After cleaning up the mess Neji and I made in my room the night before, I left Leah and the twins at home and then went with Neji back to his house before I went to pick up my mom.

"I'm home," said Neji when we walked in the front door.

"In the kitchen!" his mom called from the other room.

I followed Neji into the kitchen, "Hi Yume," I said to his mom.

"Hi Tenten, I'm sorry about your mom, if you ever need anything just call me, okay?" she said giving me a hug.

"I will," I said hugging her back.

"Now," she pulled away, "I need to go run some errands; I'll be back in a few hours."

"Bye," Neji and I said together.

As soon as Yume's car was out of the drive way, Neji and I went up to his room.

"What time do you have to pick up you're mom?" he asked.

I looked at the clock on my phone and said, "Well its noon now…I was thinking I'd go over to the station around 2:30 or 3."

I sat down with Neji on his king sized bed and he leaned forward to kiss me. I giggled and let Neji push me onto my back so he could climb over me. Caressing my sides he slid his tongue into my mouth and we fought for dominance. I moaned into the steamy kiss, but he pulled away.

"Why did you stop?" I asked disappointed.

"Because," he replied pushing the bangs out of my face, and then lightly caressing my cheek; he looked deep into my eyes, "I love you."

Smiling I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close. My forehead lightly touching his, "and I love you," I pulled him in for another kiss.

**A/N: I'm sorry this chapter sucked, I was having a lot of writers block in the process of trying to write this one and I needed to hurry up and end it :P I promise to make the next chapter better!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

8 months later

Tenten POV

It was after school on Friday December 10th of our senior year and it was snowing hard. The streets were all closed due to slippery roads and zero visibility.

I sat in my room with Neji, our arms slightly bloody from our recent cuts. Our depression was always worse in the winter. We didn't know why, it must be the weather.

My mother had cut back on drinking since being picked up by the police eight months ago, but she was slowly getting back to where she was before.

It was later at night so my brothers were already in bed. Leah was in her room skyping with one of her friends and my mother was in her bedroom on her computer.

Neji held me tightly to his chest as I let tears escape from my eyes. I couldn't take it anymore, it was just too much.

I heard Leah laugh from the other room; _it must be nice to be happy all the time…_I thought.

I buried my face in Neji's shoulder and choked back a sob.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked me in a whisper.

"Yes," I said wiping away one of my tears.

"Just like we planned?"

"Just like we planned," I assured.

I could tell he was trying to be strong, but every once in a while a stray tear would escape from his eyes.

I reached up to turn off my lights and laid back down on my bed to let our eyes adjust to the darkness.

I squeezed the sharp object and winced when it sliced open my hand.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I nodded, "yeah…"

Sitting up, I gripped the blade between my thumb and pointer finger and touched the tip to my left wrist.

"Tenten…before we do this, I love you. I love you so much I'm willing to die for you, for your happiness. I can't imagine my life without you"

I watched as more tears fell from my boyfriends beautiful white eyes. "I love you too Neji, I love you so much I'm willing to die for you and _your_ happiness as well."

I leaned over and gave him one last kiss. Our foreheads touched, "on the count of three," he said.

"One," I whispered.

"Two," he whispered back.

"Three," we said together.

We whimpered as the blades cut deeper into our wrists then ever before.

I watched as the blood from both of our wrists dripped down onto my bed. I started to feel faint and I could tell Neji had too. We slowly lay back down and my hand found his.

I heard Leah laugh from her bedroom once more…then everything went black.

3rd person POV: Elizabeth

Elizabeth sat quietly on her bed reading through a few emails. She could hear her youngest daughter laughing from her bedroom and her two boys quietly snoring in the room next to hers.

She smiled and thought _I'm so lucky to have such wonderful children._ She really did love each and every one of her kids. She knew she wasn't very good at showing it most of the time. She hated that she turned to alcohol to relieve the pain of her husbands leaving.

_Tenten hates me…I just know it. _Elizabeth really felt bad for shutting down and leaving her oldest to take care of her children. It was her job and she dumped it on a child.

Tenten and Neji were currently in Tenten's room and it was getting late. It was time for Neji to go home.

Elizabeth made her way down the hall to Tenten's room. She lightly knocked on the door and opened it.

"Tenten," she said snapping the lights on. But what she saw was unexpected. Their faces were pale, both teens had both their wrists slashed and they were surrounded by their own blood. Their chests barley rising then falling.

She screamed at the sight.

"Mom, what's wrong?!" asked Leah from the hall.

Elizabeth couldn't stop Leah from coming in.

She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her dying sister. She screamed.

"Leah," their mother choked out, "get me the phone."

She turned and took off down the stairs.

When Leah returned, Elizabeth quickly dialed 911.

"911, what is your emergency?" asked the lady on the other line.

"M-my daughter and h-her boyfriend, they're…their wrists are slashed," she sobbed.

"Ma'am, please calm down, where are you? We will send an ambulance right away."

Elizabeth gave her the information.

"An ambulance in on its way ma'am, would you like me to stay on the line with you until it arrives?"

"N-no…that's okay."

She hung up and quickly looked for something that could stop the bleeding.

"Leah, I need you to go downstairs and wait for the paramedics."

She nodded and ran down the stairs again.

Elizabeth ran to the upstairs bathroom and grabbed whatever rags she could find and wrapped them around both Tenten's and Neji's wrists to try and stop the bleeding.

She could hear the sirens coming up to the house, then she heard the front door swing open and the paramedics came up the stairs with Leah on their heels.

Both Tenten and Neji were lifted onto the gurneys.

"Mommy, what's wrong with sissy?" one of the twins asked from their bedroom door.

"Shh…everything's going to be okay, but we have to go to the hospital now. Go get your shoes and coats on please."

Leah took the twins down the stairs and got them ready to leave.

Neji and Tenten were lifted into the ambulance.

"Ma'am," said one of the paramedics "would you and your family like to ride with in the ambulance?"

She nodded still in shock at the sight of her daughter and Neji is such a deathly state.

When they arrived at the hospital the receptionist in the emergency room got a hold of Neji's mom.

As they were being rolled out of the ambulance and into the hospital the paramedic explained the situation to the doctor. "Neji Hyuga age 18 and Tenten age 18 were found in her bedroom with both of their wrist deeply slashed in a suicide attempt. They both lost a lot of blood, their going into cardiac arrest."

_Suicide?_ That can't be what this is, Tenten and Neji weren't depressed. But how could she know? She spent most of her waking hours drunk.

Elizabeth, Leah and the twins were ordered to stay in the waiting room.

Yume rushed through the doors of the ER with Hinata and Hiashi.

"What happened?" she asked with fear in her voice.

"T-they tried to kill themselves." Elizabeth answered.

Tears started to fall down Hinata's face, "if only I would have told someone…"

"Hinata, what do you mean?" asked Hiashi.

"Ino, she told me that Tenten was cutting herself and I asked Neji about it…he told me he was doing it too. He made me promise not to tell anyone," she sobbed.

Just then Lee, followed by Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, Naruto and Sasuke all came running though the ER doors.

"Naruto," Hinata sobbed again as she ran into her boyfriends arms.

"What happened?" asked Sasuke.

"Sasuke," it was his father, "what are you doing here?"

"Lee called us and said that Neji and Tenten were rushed to the ER, what happened?!"

"They've attempted suicide; they both lost a lot of blood and they're going into cardiac arrest."

"What?!" the group yelled in shock.

Ino and Sakura were crying now. "N-no…there going to be okay right?" asked Ino worriedly.

"We don't know yet."

**A/N: OOOOHHH! Cliff hanger! This chapter is so much better then the one before it! AHHH! What's gonna happen!? Review! **


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

3rd person POV: Doctor

The cardiac specialist; Dr. Shizune was paged at the hospital by the receptionist in the ER at 11:30pm and they brought to her two teens that had attempted suicide together. Oxygen masks were immediately put over the mouths and noses of Neji and Tenten.

"Somebody stop the bleeding! We're going to have to do a blood transfusion," ordered Shizune.

"We're losing them," said the nurse monitoring their heart rates.

The head of cardio barked her orders to the other doctors on staff, "Okay, we're going to start CPR now while the paddles charge."

The other cardio surgeon took his place over Tenten while Shizune took her place over Neji to charge the paddles.

The nurses applied CPR to both teens. "Okay, we're charged," said the nurse.

Shizune and the other cardio specialists took hold of the paddles and together said, "Clear!"

Neji and Tenten's bodies both jerked upward at the strength of the shock.

"He's back," said the nurse as the monitor hooked up to Neji started to beep again.

"Charge to 200," said the doctor over Tenten, "clear!"

The paddles zapped Tenten once more and her body jerked upward once again.

"She's back," said the other nurse.

"How's the bleeding?" asked Shizune.

"It's still going but I'm going to go ahead and stitch the wounds closed."

"Okay, hurry," said Shizune, "we're going to need to do a blood transfusion as quickly as possible."

"Understood."

While the plastics surgeon stitched up Neji and Tenten's wounds, Shizune made her way to the waiting rooms to talk to their families.

In the waiting room their families were waiting quietly with who she assumed to be their friends.

The three teenaged girls were crying along with the boy with the bowl cut hair while the remaining boys looked to be in shock.

"Are you the family and friends of Neji and Tenten?" asked Shizune.

"Yes," said the adult man, "I'm Neji's uncle Hiashi, please tell me everything's okay."

"Everything is fine, both of their heart rates dropped but we brought them back. They are currently being given a blood transfusion and the cuts in their wrists are being stitched up. We're going to keep them overnight until there wounds can heal and they can be sent to the psych ward."

"Psych ward!?" said the blonde girl, "but they're not crazy!"

"No, but there suicidal, they need to be kept on an at least 72 hour hold and if we see improvement in those three days we'll send them home. But they might need to stay longer. Both of them are also battling addiction, so they _will_ need to stay much longer."

"How much longer?" asked the lavender eyed girl.

"The average rehabilitation time is a month."

"What about school?" asked Hiashi?

"The rehab center has tutors to keep the patients that haven't graduated yet up to speed."

"What are they addicted to?" asked who must have been Tenten's little sister.

"We found traces of mostly marijuana and alcohol, but we also found traces of ecstasy."

"When can we see them?" asked the boy with the bowl cut.

"You can come with me and I'll show you to there rooms, but you must be quiet, they haven't woken up yet."

Tenten POV

I was surrounded by blackness for what seemed like forever. I felt my body jerk upward. I wanted to wake up from the shock but I couldn't open my eyes.

My mind drifted. I was laying on something soft. I ran my fingers across the comfortable object. But it didn't feel soft and warm like it did moments before. It was warm, wet and sticky.

My eyes shot open. I looked down at my hands but saw nothing there. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness of the room around me.

My sister and two brothers were asleep on the chair in the corner of the room while my mother watched me from the side of my bed. She looked tired.

"M-mom," I croaked.

Her head shot up to look me in the eyes, "Tenten, are you okay? What do you remember?"

"W-water," I croaked again.

"Oh sure," she said standing up and making her way over to the sink.

I looked down at my wrists. They were covered in white bandages. I had an IV in one hands and another needle in my other hand that was slowly delivering blood back into my body. _I must have lost a lot._

"Here," said my mom handing me the glass of water.

"Thanks," I took a long drink.

"I'm going to go tell the nurse your awake, okay? I'll be right back."

I nodded.

I sat in silence while my mom talked to the nurse. Then in hit me. _Neji. Where is he? Is he okay? Did they save him too? Or did he…?_ No I couldn't think like that. He had to be okay. He just had to be.

My mom came back into the room followed by the nurse.

"Hello Tenten," said the nurse, "how are you feeling? Do you feel any pain at all? Can I get you anything?"

"N-no…I'm okay," I turned to look at my mother, "Mom, where's Neji?"

She smiled, "he's okay. He's still asleep though."

I let out a relived sigh, "thank god…When can I see him?"

"I'm sorry sweetie," said the nurse, "but we can't let you see him."

"Why not!?" I shot at her.

"Well, because the both of you attempted to kill yourselves together we just can't let you see each other until we know nothing drastic is going to happen again."

"But he's my boyfriend! I want to know if he's okay!"

"I know, and we will keep you posted about him while you recover and we'll keep him posted about you while he recovers. But we just can't allow you to have any contact for a while."

"But there are things that he'll tell me and not you!"

"It doesn't matter. We can't let you see each other."

"B-but…" I was all out of arguments. I knew that no matter what I'd say that the doctors would never let us see each other, "Okay…"

**A/N: well another chapter done! Also…as you may remember from the note in the beginning I mentioned how 2 girls in my school had killed themselves. Well, this past Wednesday another person in my class killed themselves. So please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers this week. Thank You. **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Neji POV

I was surrounded by darkness. My body jerked upward and I felt the darkness slightly lift. In the back of my mind I could hear Tenten crying. I tried to reach her but I couldn't. I fought against the darkness that was clouding my mind but it kept pulling me back.

I felt an unfamiliar prick in my hand and my eyes fluttered open.

I saw a nurse switching out a needle that was refilling my body with blood.

"Good morning," said the nurse, "how are you feeling?"

I didn't say anything; I was still trying to wake up.

My mother came over to my bedside and squeezed my free hand, "I'm so glad your okay."

"I'll leave you two alone," said the nurse turning to leave.

My eyes wandered around the room. Hinata was asleep in the chair on the other side of the room and my uncles phone was on the counter by the sink so I assumed he was somewhere in the hospital.

"How are you feeling sweetie?" asked my mother.

"I'm fine…" I said looking down at my bandaged covered arms, "Where's Tenten, is she okay?"

"She's fine. She just woke up a little while ago."

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"No, the hospital won't allow it."

"Oh…okay." I could understand that…we did try to kill ourselves together after all.

On the other side of the room Hinata sat up in her chair and yawned.

"You're awake!" she said rubbing her eyes, "are you feeling okay?"

I nodded.

She came over to my bedside and said, "I'm sorry I didn't say anything to anyone Neji…I should have and then maybe this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't blame yourself," I said, "it isn't your fault. I'm the one that made you promise not to tell."

Just then, my uncle walked into the room.

"Oh good," he said, "your awake."

I sent him silent daggers. I really did not want to talk to him right now.

"Hinata Honey," said my mom, "could you call Lee for me and let him know that they're awake."

"Yeah, of course."

"Thank you dear."

It was quiet for a minute or so until my uncle said, "Yume, go get something to eat. I'll stay with Neji."

"Okay," she said kissing my forehead then leaving.

I knew something was coming when he didn't speak right away.

"Just say whatever it is you want to say," I said.

"How could you do that?"

"Do what, attempt to kill myself?"

"Yes. Killing yourself is the most selfish thing you could do. What were you thinking? You were going to leave your mother alone? How could that even cross your mind?"

"It did cross my mind…"

"And you still thought it was okay to kill yourself?"

"You don't understand…"

"Neji…if this gets out into the public, we could go out of business."

"That's really what you're most worried about right now!?"

"No…but it's one of the things that worry me. Now tell me, what it is that I don't understand."

"Nothing…never mind."

Tenten POV

I was flipping though channels when I heard a knock at the door. "Come in," I said.

"Tenten, you have a visitor," said the nurse.

"Who is it?"

"Hey Tenten," said Lee.

"Hey," I smiled, "I'm glad you came."

He hugged me and sat on my bedside, "the doctors told me that it was a good thing I came today. He told me that their taking you and Neji to the psych ward after lunch."

"Yeah, they are. Have you seen Neji yet?"

"No, I'm going there next. Have you seen him yet?"

"No…they won't let me. Something about how something drastic could happen if we have a contact."

"Well, I can understand where their coming from."

"Yeah I guess…I just want hear that he's okay from him, not some doctor that hardly knows him at all."

"I know. Anything you want me to tell him for you?"

"No…I don't even know what I would say."

"How about 'I love you'?"

"Yeah," she blushed, "tell him that."

"Okay, I will."

There was another knock at the door.

"Come in," I called.

It was Shikamaru and Ino.

"Hey babe," said Ino, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

"Stay strong okay, because as soon as you come back to school, we're going to shop 'til we drop!"

I laughed, "Okay, looking forward to it."

"Temari wanted to come see you," said Shikamaru, "but they wouldn't let her off work. She told me to tell you she's thinking of you."

"Tell her thanks."

He nodded.

The four of us visited for a little while and then they went to visit Neji before they took us to the psych ward.

"I love you girly!" said Ino giving me a hug, "see you soon."

"Bye."

Neji POV

I was bored out of mind sitting in this hospital bed not able to do anything. And I was still mad about mine and my uncles talk from before.

I heard foot steps running down the hall towards my room. Then the door swung open and Lee jumped at me.

"Neji! I'm so glad you are still alive!"

"Lee…" I said, "Get off of me…"

"Oh…right, sorry Neji."

"Lee! Scolded Ino as her and Shikamaru came into my room, "this is a hospital! Behave yourself."

"Sorry Ino," Lee cringed.

"So how are you feeling Neji?" asked the blond.

"I'm fine…"

"Well that's good," said Shikamaru, "We need you for soccer this season so hurry up and get better."

"You idiot!" insulted Ino as she hit her best friend in the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for woman!?"

"He's not sick, why are you telling him to get better!?"

"Well what else do you want me to say!?" then under his breath he said, "Such a drag…"

"Excuse me Shikamaru, what was that? I couldn't quite hear you," she said teasingly.

When the two finished their little argument I asked, "have any of you seen Tenten yet?"

"Yeah we all have," sad Lee, "She told me to tell you that she loves you."

I grinned.

There was a knock at the door. "Neji, its Hinata. Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

She opened the door, "Oh hey guys!" she said, "I didn't know you were coming."

"We were actually about to leave," said Shikamaru, "Sasuke's dad wouldn't even let us up here…Sasuke and Sakura are busy distracting him while we came to visit."

"Why wouldn't he let you up here?" she asked, "they're both aloud visitors until after lunch."

"No idea," said Ino, "we all thought it was weird."

"Well I came up to let you know that Naruto is on his way here."

"Okay."

Ino, Shikamaru and Lee left and it was just me and Hinata.

"Have you talked to Tenten at all Hinata?" I asked.

"No, not yet."

"You should go do that before Naruto get's here. I know she's probably expecting you."

"Yes, you're probably right. I'll go talk to her," she said getting up to leave.

"Hinata?"

"Yes Neji?"

"Tell her I love her."

"Okay, I will," she smiled and left.

_Finally, peace and quiet. _At least until Naruto gets here…

Hinata POV

I arrived at Tenten's room and knocked quietly.

"Come in," I heard from the other side of the door.

I opened the door quietly and stepped inside, "Hey Tenten."

"Hey Hinata, I'm glad you came before they took me to the loony bin!"

"It's not a loony bin Tenten…your going there so you can get help."

"Yeah, yeah…whatever, I don't know how isolating us with a bunch of other suicidal teens is going to help us become unsuicidal."

"I would assume they'll have you go through counseling and a detox program."

"Probably, but that stuff only works if the patient is willing to get better," said Tenten.

"Are you willing to get help?"

"I'm not sure yet…it hasn't really sunk in yet that Neji and I almost died."

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was Naruto.

"I'm here," he said before I could talk, "What room are they in?"

"I'll meet you in the lobby by the elevator, and then I'll bring you up to their rooms."

"Okay babe, see you in a few."

He hung up.

"That was Naruto," I said "I'll go get him and bring him here."

"Okay!"

I met Naruto at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Beautiful," he said giving me kiss, "How are they?"

"They're good," I said taking his hand and leading him up the stairs.

We came to Neji's room first since it was the closest to the elevator.

"Hey man," said Naruto letting go of my hand, "how are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Well obviously your not, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting in a hospital bed waiting for the doctors to take you to a mental hospital."

"N-naruto…what are you doing?"

He ignored my question as if I hadn't even said anything at all.

"What were you thinking Neji…do you have any idea how scared we were! You were just going to leave your friends and family behind! How could you do that to us?"

"N-naruto, stop!" I said.

"No Hinata, he needs to hear this."

"Naruto, no! We're in a hospital; this is no place to start a fight."

He was silent for a moment, a frown on his face.

I stood in front of him with my hands on his chest holding him away from Neji.

"Please…" I whispered.

He looked down at me sadly before turning away. He took my hand and pulled me out into the hallway.

"Why did you do that?" I asked on our way to Tenten's room.

"I'm not sure…I know this isn't a good time to be yelling at him and causing another problem for him but, I just couldn't help myself."

"I know Naruto," I linked my fingers with his, "just try not to yell at Tenten. She might cry."

"Ha! Tenten, crying? Yeah, okaaayyy Hinata."

I smiled, it did sound a little ridiculous.

The two of us arrived at Tenten's room and let ourselves in.

"Hey Tenten," said Naruto, "how're you doing?"

"I'm okay, but I'm starting to freak out a little about going to the psych ward."

"Don't worry Tenten, I'm sure it'll be okay," I reassured her.

"Yeah…but I won't be able to see Neji…"

"Just remember the faster you get out of there the sooner you'll be able to se each other," said Naruto.

There was a knock at the door and a nurse came in with a pair f yoga pants and a t-shirt.

"Are you ready to go Tenten?" she asked, "As soon as you change we'll be taking you to the south wing."

"Okay….well…" she said turning to look at Naruto and I, "I guess I'll see you in a month."

I bent over to give her a hug, "get better."

"Thank Hinata, I will."

**A/N: Sorry it took me a while to write this one…School's been busy and I've been hanging out with my friends a lot more on the weekends. Review! **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Tenten POV

I was taken to the south wing by one of my nurses. We arrived at the doors of the psych ward the same time as Neji.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," he replied.

I wanted to run up and hug him, but I knew we couldn't do that with the nurses standing right here.

"Because neither of you have been here before, we're going to explain the rules," said my nurse, "While you're here, you can't have anything that could be used as a weapon so please remove any piercing you may have."

I reached up to my ears and took out the 8 piercings that I had. Then I lifted up my shirt and took out my belly button ring. I handed the jewelry over to the nurse.

"Another thing is that you aren't aloud to reveal your last name, cell phone number, home address, or the school that you attend. Also, you must keep your hands to yourselves at all times. Do either of you have any questions so far?"

We shook our heads.

"Awesome…while you're here you will be having group counseling sessions along with private sessions. If it seems that you have home issues we will be calling in members of your family to join you with therapy."

At the mention of 'family therapy', Neji and I gave each other a worried glance. Neji and Lee were the only ones I've ever shared my family problems with and Lee and I have been the only ones Neji has shared his with. I didn't think that either of us was ready for anybody else to know. And now we were practically being forced to tell a stranger all of our problems. It didn't seem right.

"Alright, that's about everything you need to know about your stay here. We'll be going now."

We nodded and the doors opened.

We walked a short distance down a hallway and then parted ways once we got to the spot where the girls' side and the boys' side met. The nurses kept walking but we stayed behind at the crossroads momentarily.

He took my hand and looked into my eyes, "you okay Tenten?"

"A little scared, but fine. What about you?"

"Same…I'm not looking forward to family counseling."

"Neither am I."

"I love you," he said kissing my check.

"I love you too," I replied going up onto my toes and kissing him on the lips.

We gave each other one last loving look and I slowly let my hand be released from his.

We both turned at took off in a fast walk to try and catch up with are nurses.

I caught up with my nurse just as she stopped to unlock a door.

"This will be your room for the next month Tenten," she said, "You'll be sharing it with another patient."

I nodded.

"Tayuya," she said when she opened the door, "This is Tenten, will you show her the ropes?"

"Of course Asami," said my roommate.

Tayuya wasn't particularly tall, she was shorter then me anyways. Her hair was long past her waist and fiery red and dark eyes that were almost black.

"Great, I'll leave you two to get acquainted," said the nurse turning to leave.

When she was gone I said, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Tenten."

"Hi Tenten, I'm Tayuya, but you probably figured that out already. So what are you in here for?"

"Suicide attempt," I answered her.

"Guessed as much," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked curious as to how she would have figured that out so quickly.

"Your wrists are bandaged," she answered, "most first timers are usually suicidal anyways."

"Oh…what about you, what are you in here for?"

"Same. When I was really little my father thought I was possessed by the devil so he did everything in his power to perform and exorcism. As I got older I blocked it out but recently the memories have started to come back and I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Wow…" I said slightly disturbed.

"Yeah…so how long are you staying?"

"A month," I answered.

"Seriously? Usually anyone who tries to kill themselves is only here for 72 hours."

"I'm here for addiction too I guess…but I wouldn't really say I'm addicted to anything."

"So what do they say you're addicted to?"

"Marijuana, alcohol and ecstasy."

"Wow, that's nothing compared to the shit I've done! The doctors here are nuts!"

I shrugged, "I've done heroine before too…but I didn't like it so I didn't do it again."

"Whoa…you're lucky you could stop. I was addicted to that shit for years. I finally got over that and meth after my third time in rehab. It was not fun at all."

I shivered at the thought of meth. The last time I came in contact with that was the summer going into junior year and Neji was doing it with a few of our friends.

_It was late July and Neji and I were hanging out with our newest group of friends. We were at Hidan's house having what they called a 'Bong Party'. It's when we all get together to get high. We were all having a good time just smoking pot and drinking until Hidan said, "So Deidara did you bring it?"_

_ "Of course I did Hidan, what do you take me for?"_

_ "Just hand it over!" _

_ From out of no where Deidara pulled out a hand full of small glass tubes filled with a white chalky substance. Meth._

_ "Here Hyuga," he said handing one of the tubes to Neji._

_ He took it and lit the end then putting it in his mouth._

_ "Neji…I don't think you should be smoking that," I said._

_ "Relax Tenten," said Pain from across the room, "it's not gonna do him any harm. You may as well just smoke one too. You'll love it." _

_ "No…I'm fine with what I have here," I said looking at my joint._

_ "Whatever girly," said Sasori, "but you're really missing out, I've never felt a high as good as this one."_

_ The sound of that was tempting, but I knew from the multiple drug reports I've had to do in health class that Meth was not something I wanted in my system._

_ It was getting late when Neji and I decided it was time to go back to his house and crash. Neji's mom thought that he was going to be staying at Lee's while she was away on a business trip. But really he just stayed at home and had me spend the week there with him. _

_We were both still ridiculously high when we got back to his house. We were laughing, kissing and just enjoying our high. He held me by the waist pushing me backwards. But I tripped and fell backwards onto the couch taking him with me._

_We laughed at my clumsiness and clung to each other until the giggles stopped._

_He started to kiss and lick my neck._

"_Neji, what are you doing?" I asked confused. He never kissed me like this on the one week out of the month that my birth control would be ineffective. He knew that if he did it would lead to other things and then I could get pregnant._

"_What, I can't kiss my girlfriend?"_

"_Not like this," I reminded him, "not now!"_

"_Come on," he said, "who cares?"_

_He bit down on my neck and maneuvered his mouth down my collar bone and towards my exposed cleavage._

"_Neji stop! I don't want to do this right now!"_

_It was then that I remembered from health class was that one of the side effects from meth was an increased libido. _(Increased sex drive for those of you who might not know)

"_Neji," I said in a struggle to get free from his grasp around my waist, "I promise we'll do this later, just not now!"_

"_Why can't we do it now?" he said biting back down on my neck._

"_Because," I said pushing him off of me, "I don't want to get pregnant."_

"_Fine…" he said in a pout, "later…"_

"_Thank you."_

"_But you have to do one thing for me."_

_I sighed in annoyance, "fine…what?"_

"_You have to take a shower with me."_

"_No sex?"_

"_No sex."_

"_Do you promise?"_

"_Yes, I promise."_

_We got up off the couch and went up to the bathroom that was connected to Neji's bedroom._

_I closed the door behind us and when I turned back around to face Neji he was bracing himself against the counter._

"_Neji, are you okay?" I asked worried._

_I reached out to grab his arm but when I did he was sweating. I got in front of him and his eyes were glazed over and he was taking deep breaths to calm himself._

"_Neji…" I said again trying to get his attention._

_I could see his knees start to buckle so I grabbed onto his arms as he fell to the floor._

"_Neji!" I said louder this time, "are you listening to me!?"_

_He moved quickly over to the toilet and threw up._

"_Neji…what's wrong? Are you sick?"_

_He couldn't be sick; he was just fine a minute ago. He was just trying to get me into bed. I knew he wasn't sick. It was the meth…I knew it was a bad idea to smoke it. _

_I opened the cabinet in the bathroom and pulled out a cup and filled it with water. _

_I handed the water over to Neji so he could wash out his mouth._

"_Thanks," he said taking the cup from me._

_It didn't do much though, he just kept puking._

"_You don't need to be in here you know…" he said quietly._

"_No it's fine, I'm okay."_

_He flushed the toilet and sat back against the shower stall trying to regain composure. _

"_Help me stand up," he said._

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah…"_

_I stood up from where I was seated and reached my arm out to him and pulled him up from where he was seated._

_He went over to the mirror on the wall and opened it to take out his tooth brush._

"_Promise me you'll never do that stuff again," I said._

"_I won't."_

_ "Thank you," I said quietly._

"Yeah, it's pretty scary stuff," I said to Tayuya.

"Well, it's about time for a group counseling session. Want to come with me?"

"Sure," I said. I'd have to get it over with sooner or later. I choose sooner.

**A/N: Really proud of this chapter! I think writing flashbacks are my favorite things to write! There jut so fun! It's nice to get away from the main story line for a while. Update! Now remember kids…drugs are bad! Do not do them!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'm so sorry its taken me so long to update! Crazy writers block! But I finally got something out of me! I know this chapter is kinda short but I haven't given up on this story yet! I will finish it! Thank you! **** Review!**

Chapter 14

Tenten POV

I walked with Tayuya to the staff room where they held group counseling sessions.

I was hoping to see Neji there as well, but he wasn't.

"Hello Tayuya," said the councilor, "nice of you and your friend to join us."

"Of course, Tenten and I will just take a seat then."

"Alright everyone, we'll get started now. For those of you who don't know, my name is Doctor Kurenai Yuhi, I specialize in Child and Teen Psychology. This is a safe place for all of you to share your stories and give advice to others. You are free to ask as many questions as you want as long as the one answering are comfortable. Tayuya, would you like to start?"

"Sure," she said, "When I was really little, my father thought that I was possessed by the devil. I'm not really sure why, but he performed exorcisms that involved dousing me with holy water, beating me with crosses, and trying me to a bed and yelling Latin phrases at me. Pretty much the same thing as you sees in movies and television. Anyways, I blocked that out for year but around the time I was 10 or 11 the memories started coming back. I was all of a sudden afraid of my father. I didn't want anything to do with him so I ran away from home multiple times, got into a bad crowd in middle school and overdosed on Meth in 8th grade. I was in and out of rehab for 3 years due to addiction to Meth, Heroine, cocaine and marijuana. A few days ago I came back home after shooting up on heroine and tried to kill myself. I'm here for 3 days and I'll be going back to rehab for my 5th time."

"Tayuya," said Dr. Yuhi, "was there a reason behind wanting to kill yourself?"

"I want to quit doing drugs so badly. I've even checked myself into rehab before. But after going there so many times and not getting better, I didn't think I ever could, so I just felt like the only way to get better was to die."

"Have you separated yourself from the people that got you addicted?"

"I tried, but they kept showing up at my house and at school with drugs, I couldn't say no."

"What is the next step you think you have to take in order to recover?"

"For 1, I need to get rid of all contact from the people keeping me addicted, 2) I need to find a way to forgive my father, and if I can't I'll move in with grandparents, 3) I'm going to continue using the tools the rehabilitation center has given me the next time I can leave."

"Very good Tayuya, you've made so much progress from the first time we met, I'm proud of you."

"Thank you."

"Who would like to go next?" asked Dr. Yuhi, "Tenten, how about you?"

"S-sure." I told the group everything that happened to me since the day my father left.

"Tenten, why is it you think that your father left?"

"I-I honestly don't know…I've always felt kind of like it was my fault, but there's no way because I know my father loved me and my brothers and sister. He loved my mom too, or at least I thought he did."

"Tenten, most of the time a parent leaving has nothing to do with their children or their spouse, the most common reason for a parent leaving is because the parent that left has a mental illness and doesn't know how to get help or even know how to tell that they have a mental illness."

I nodded.

"What are you most afraid about once you leave here?"

I thought for a moment, "losing Neji."

"He's your boyfriend that came with you, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you feel that his reasons for coming here are worse than yours?"

"I don't know, we both came here because of a suicide attempt, but other than his mom, his cousin and I, he's alone. He has an awful relationship with his uncle, his father was killed when he was really young and he won't talk to any of our friends anymore; he's completely shut them out. It takes everything I have in me just to convince him just to go to a party."

"Just know that you can't help him by yourself, it sounds to me that he's afraid of losing the one's that he loves so he shuts them out. He will need to learn to let people in again if there can ever be hope of him getting better. And when I see him, I will tell him that."

"Thank you," I said.

When everyone was finished telling their stories, I realized that compared to a lot of these people, I have it good. Most of these people were abused, raped, in a life threatening accident, etc.

When the session was over I couldn't get out of my mind what Dr. Yuhi said about my father possibly having a mental illness. It would make a lot of sense. Mental illness can be genetic and that would explain why I think of the things that I do.

"Tenten."

I turned around to see Dr Yuhi coming towards me.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Yeah, of course."

The two of us went back into the staff room and sat down across from each other.

"Do you still think about your dad, Tenten?"

"Yes, of course. He was like my best friend."

"Do you ever dream about him coming back or get nervous about what it would be like if he did?"

"Now that I think about it, I guess I do. Sometimes I get really obsessive about why he left or what he's doing at that moment."

"Does thinking about that ever keep you up at night?"

"All the time," I answered.

"Thank you Tenten, you can go now."

"Okay," I bowed to her and went back to my room.


End file.
